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My Turn for a Medical Drama

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(@rparker)
Posts: 5480
Illustrious Member
 

I hope everything turns out ok, Chris.

Hey, Roy, the slurred speech, headaches and other symptoms you describe sound vaguely familiar....LIKE A HANGOVER. :twisted:

Well, that would explain the donkey..... :lol:

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin

 
Posted : 26/10/2007 6:46 pm
(@blueline)
Posts: 1704
Noble Member
 

Chris,
I just read your post. Will pray for your recovery and health. Hope you are doing better. I was shocked to read what happened. I guess the good part is that you are able to tell the story and that you thought of your GN family!

Hope you're doing better mate,

Matt

Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.

 
Posted : 26/10/2007 8:18 pm
(@katreich)
Posts: 686
Prominent Member
 

Not much I can add but my best thoughts Chris. you were certainly able to keep a cool head during this time! I suppose stroke is one of everyone's worse fears. Interesting that you could still play though, and even more interesting is that you thought to try to play while you thought you were having a stroke! Musicians! :shock:

Falling in love is like learning to play the guitar; first you learn to follow the rules, then you learn to play with your heart.

www.soundclick.com/kathyreichert

 
Posted : 26/10/2007 8:52 pm
(@isabelle)
Posts: 244
Reputable Member
 

Wow, Chris :| I hope all the tests turn out fine.

All the best.

Isabelle

 
Posted : 27/10/2007 1:24 pm
(@pearlthekat)
Posts: 1468
Noble Member
 

what??? that happened and you didn't go the the ER?? if that happens again go to the nearest emergency room right away. they' will at least keep you under observation for a while. the sooner you get medical attention to a stroke the better your outcome can be.

i live in NYC and people go to the ER here for a hangnail....

 
Posted : 27/10/2007 9:38 pm
(@chris-c)
Posts: 3454
Famed Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks very much everybody for all the supportive messages. :)

I'm sure things will be OK.

what??? that happened and you didn't go the the ER?? if that happens again go to the nearest emergency room right away. they' will at least keep you under observation for a while. the sooner you get medical attention to a stroke the better your outcome can be.

i live in NYC and people go to the ER here for a hangnail....

Fair enough, but the tricky thing about that is actually getting there. :wink:

I live in the country, so there are no handy ERs just around the corner. And the problem with having some kind of brain related episode like that is that all the strategies that you would normally use to cope require the use of a working brain - and that's the organ that just failed. If that's not functioning then it's a bit like saying "If you break a leg, run straight to the nearest hospital and grab a crutch and a plaster..." :wink:

When your brain clags out it's unlike any other medical event, because your control centre has gone down - a Hard Drive crash if you like. I couldn't even work out how to turn an amp off - a single simple switch - and I couldn't read. So, jumping in the car and driving somewhere was out of the question. Not just because I couldn't see properly, but I wouldn't have been able to drive. I couldn't operate a telephone either - all those buttons and numbers to press. :?

So all the things that you could normally do or decide easily are impossible. Not only has your decision making equipment failed, you now no longer have any idea that such decisions are either possible or even necessary. It's a bit like you're lying at the bottom of a collapsed mineshaft with little or no light. Just breathing is enough to be getting on with for a while...

And as it all slowly returns (if it does of course) then you eventually become aware that you're "Recovering". So your body is telling you that the immediacy of the danger is lessening. This may still be a bad judgment call, but it's the best you can do at the time.

I've been in ERs and I'm not a big fan. You sit for hours with all the fight victims and general maimed and hope to get a good call from an overworked team under pressure. Priority goes to those with something wrong NOW, rather than somebody who may have had a dangerous episode but who can now walk and talk and pass all the immediate tests.

Once I had recovered enough to be able to think a bit, I did get on the phone (and the internet) and gather information and advice, and then get some physical help. I'm reasonably happy that I'm going down the right path now, but at my age you know that all you can do is your best at the time, and that (like many friends and family before me) one day you won't make it. So I've learned to accept that, and just give life my best shot while I still have it. :)

Cheers,

Chris

 
Posted : 27/10/2007 11:04 pm
(@rparker)
Posts: 5480
Illustrious Member
 

Chris, you are so right. Hard to think straight when you can't think whatsoever. Scary feeling. I'm glad it's good so far for ya man.

Amazing too, is the stuff you can do though. For example, I could not tell my wife I was in trouble that night, but I was able to fire up the gas grill. :?: :?:

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:17 am
(@chris-c)
Posts: 3454
Famed Member
Topic starter
 

Amazing too, is the stuff you can do though. For example, I could not tell my wife I was in trouble that night, but I was able to fire up the gas grill. :?: :?:

It's weird isn't it. It seems really odd that you couldn't tell your wife, but having been through it I know just what you mean - you just don't have the right circuits working. :?

You could fire up the gas, and I could hold down some chords, so I guess they must be both simple patterned responses that we store in another way or another part of the brain. Makes sense I suppose, when you think of some of those Ozzy Osborne style rockers who can still perform some functions with very little apparent remaining working brain.. :wink: :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:31 am
(@citizennoir)
Posts: 1247
Noble Member
 

Chris,

Glad to see you seem to be alright. (You too Roy :D )

I was watching the National Geographic channel last night....
They showed a brain surgery and some nerve surgery, amongst other things...

Very interesting.

Wiring indeed.

They were removing a tumor from this guys brain, and had him awake during the operation so they could find out
where exactly the areas were that affected his speech.
Had him reading flash cards while they 'stimulated' the areas around the tumor with electicity.

Then they just reconnected the other guys nerves....
Said they were nothing more than electrical wiring.

Anyway -
Stay healthy you guys.

Ken

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway

"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:42 am
(@chris-c)
Posts: 3454
Famed Member
Topic starter
 

Stay healthy you guys.

Ken

Hi Ken - I just sent you an email a few seconds ago. :)

We'll try and stay healthy - if our wiring holds up. I think the rats have been chewing mine.... :roll:

Cheers,

Chris

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:49 am
(@rparker)
Posts: 5480
Illustrious Member
 

Amazing too, is the stuff you can do though. For example, I could not tell my wife I was in trouble that night, but I was able to fire up the gas grill. :?: :?:

It's weird isn't it. It seems really odd that you couldn't tell your wife, but having been through it I know just what you mean - you just don't have the right circuits working. :?

You could fire up the gas, and I could hold down some chords, so I guess they must be both simple patterned responses that we store in another way or another part of the brain. Makes sense I suppose, when you think of some of those Ozzy Osborne style rockers who can still perform some functions with very little apparent remaining working brain.. :wink: :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

Well, I've been home alone after surgeries and oral surgeries complete with mind altering pain meds. (once walked two miles to a store to buy an entire chocolate cake. Pain meds and chocolate cake. Was up for two days.) Back to my point, you can be pretty looped up and be comical, but if your mind ain't working, you need someone who knows you around. Charla has on numerous occassions this past couple of months to manage my meds when it looked like I needed help.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:51 am
(@rparker)
Posts: 5480
Illustrious Member
 

Chris,

Glad to see you seem to be alright. (You too Roy :D )

I was watching the National Geographic channel last night....
They showed a brain surgery and some nerve surgery, amongst other things...

Very interesting.

Wiring indeed.

They were removing a tumor from this guys brain, and had him awake during the operation so they could find out
where exactly the areas were that affected his speech.
Had him reading flash cards while they 'stimulated' the areas around the tumor with electicity.

Then they just reconnected the other guys nerves....
Said they were nothing more than electrical wiring.

Anyway -
Stay healthy you guys.

Ken

Thanks Ken. Hear anything about your knee yet?

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 4:52 am
(@smokindog)
Posts: 5345
Illustrious Member
 

Hey Chris, I just read this post. Thats some pretty scary stuff :shock: I certainly hope you don't have anymore problems with this. BTW, I have to agree with Pearl. If you start having more symptoms PLEASE do your best to get to an ER ASAP. If you have a full blown CVA they can often reverse the effect with tpa. The catch is you need to get treatment as soon as possible, usually within 2-4 hours. But we will think positive thoughts now :D Good Luck!

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Posted : 28/10/2007 6:08 pm
(@ricochet)
Posts: 7833
Illustrious Member
 

I had a buddy, a Harley mechanic, who scrambled his brain badly in a crash a few years back. While he was out of his head, saying some of the craziest stuff you ever heard, I asked him to talk me through changing a cam in an Evo engine. He straightened up and described every step in perfect detail, throwing in some of the "tricks of the trade" that an experienced mechanic learns to make it go a little better.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."

 
Posted : 28/10/2007 7:18 pm
(@smokindog)
Posts: 5345
Illustrious Member
 

Its truly amazing how the mind works :D I'll remember that one Ric, just might come in handy some time 8)

My Youtube Page
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http://www.soundclick.com/smokindogandthebluezers

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Posted : 28/10/2007 7:49 pm
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